• Greg Ellwood shrewdly notes potential motive to announcing Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) first as presenters at this year’s Academy Awards. [Awards Campaign]
• Tom Hooper and Geoffrey Rush respond to the notion of cutting “The King’s Speech” to appease a PG-13 rating. [Inside Movies]
• “Master Class: Editing James Franco…with James Franco meets on Thursday afternoons weekly.” [Movieline]
“Good is the enemy of Great,” wrote Jim Collins, in one of the more high-maintenance self-help plans you’re likely to encounter. As nice a thought as it is, this law appears to have no place in the world of the Hollywood franchise blockbuster, where Crap is the enemy of pretty much everything, and Good is usually one courtesy too many for time-strapped, dollar-eyed producers.
With myriad noisy-yet-joyless “Transformers” types littering the release schedule each summer, then, the bar for commendability is set rather low: it often takes but one redeeming feature to launch such products into critics’ good books in addition to the box office charts.
It’s in this way that Jon Favreau’s “Iron Man” carved a reputation as one of 2008’s pleasant surprises: narratively choppy, technically perfunctory and indifferently performed in support, it nonetheless boasted a star turn from Robert Downey Jr so fleet-footed and gleefully off-message that it made all the surrounding elements seem wittier by sheer association.
It should come as no surprise to students of the Hollywood mainstream that Favreau’s swiftly delivered sequel, already raking in the cash on its European release, aims no higher, and reaches no wider, than its predecessor. By and large, Favreau and his collaborators have figured that the shortcuts they got away with in the first film are still fit for purpose.
For actor Jeff Bridges, whose career has already spanned five decades, Scott Cooper’s “Crazy Heart” was something of a homecoming and, the actor says, “a dream come true.”
Bridges stars in the film as Bad Blake, a ramblin’ country-western singer who travels the Southwest playing dive after dive, cut from the same cloth as Hank Williams Jr., maybe, or Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, etc. A guitarist in his own right, Bridges was eager to take on a film so concerned with music, but was wary of underwhelming after the example set by another music-themed film from his past, Steve Kloves’s “The Fabulous Baker Boys” from 1989.
“What they did with that movie I thought was so wonderful that to do another music movie and not match that, it’s a pretty high bar there, so I was concerned about that,” Bridges says over lunch in Beverly Hills one November afternoon. “There were several music scripts that came down the pike, and sometimes it would have lyrics or little samples and it wouldn’t be right. And this one had no music. Then I thought maybe I could write the music, or my friend, but then, you know, I was busy, so I didn’t focus on it.”
Indeed, Bridges is quick to admit that he spends a great deal of his energy steering clear of new projects. It might be a phobia of commitment on one hand, but on the other, he’s a man who likes to keep his options open. Signing onto a new film means missing the chance to work on any number of other projects that might ultimately interest him more.
But “Crazy Heart” was a different story, especially once his good friend T Bone Burnett got involved as producer, music consultant and composer.
Oh, I kid the good folks over on Melrose. But tell me these two layouts weren’t switched at birth:
After all the hype, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” opened with a solid $87.0 million at the box office this weekend. Both “X2” and “X-Men: The Last Stand” started with over $100 million* but “Wolverine” does better the $72.6 million of Bryan Singer’s original from 2000. When a film is received as poorly as Brett Ratner’s third entry in the franchise was, it’s only natural for the follow-up to start a bit lower.
Almost any franchise will prove this but the easiest example is “Batman.” Schumacher did his worst with “Batman & Robin” and unsuspecting customers shelled out $67.1 million* on opening weekend. The movie collapsed from there and it took Warner Bros. years to attempt another shot at the bat. In steps Christopher Nolan and “Batman Begins” debuted with a cautious $54.6 million. Everybody loved it, the stars aligned and “The Dark Knight” opened to $158.4 million. Obviously, there were other factors at play but look at the “Back to the Future,” “Mission: Impossible” and “The Matrix” films for further proof.
Anyway, all that is to say that $87 million isn’t really disappointing, nor is it that spectacular. “Iron Man” debuted with $98 million on this weekend last year without any previous big screen incarnations. “Wolverine” will most likely not make it to $200 million and life goes on.
Matthew McConaughey tried his luck at counter-programming and brought in $15.3 million for “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.” That’s the worst debut he’s had in the romantic comedy genre since “EdTV” in 1999 and only a tiny fraction better than “Made of Honor”’s debut last year versus Tony Stark. I’m willing to go out on a limb and guess that McConaughey’s salary was a bit larger than Patrick Dempsey’s so that return is just not good enough. I like to think that it didn’t do well because it looked awful but that wouldn’t explain “Wolverine”’s numbers.
Richard Corliss’ rundown of yesterday’s Oscar nominations, following the familiar “will win/should win/wuz robbed” template, features some typically against-the-grain opinions, including the surprising (to me, at least) that Best Supporting Actress is the strongest of this year’s acting races. (“Three of the nominated ladies are Oscar-worthy,” he writes. And what are Rourke, Penn and Jenkins? Chopped liver?)
But his most contrarian statement of all arrives in his selection of who should have been nominated for Best Director, an overt attempt at baiting “Dark Knight” fans:
Robbed: Jon Favreau, Iron Man
O.K., so The Dark Knight was shut out of the Picture and Director categories. Dommage. But in a terrific year for superhero films, the smartest, cleanest one, Iron Man, was also ignored. Robert Downey Jr., nominated for his blackface parody in Tropic Thunder, created a complex, virtually human action figure in the repentent munitions baron Tony Stark. The special effects buttressed the picture instead of overwhelming it. And Favreau’s direction was lean, clean and suave, up there with old Hollywood adventure films by directors like Howard Hawks and Raoul Walsh — movies that never got awards, but which we watch with undiminished pleasure today.
Right. Anyway, for what it’s worth, Corliss’ rebel streak doesn’t extend to his predictions. Like everyone else, he puts his money on “Slumdog,” Boyle, Winslet, Ledger and Cruz — while in what strikes me as the most up-in-the-air of the major races, he picks Mickey Rourke ahead of Sean Penn. (I agree, but that could all change on Sunday.)
This is part two of my last glance at the year’s tech category contenders. For part one, click here.
Best Music (Original Score)
Now here is a category where there are no locks. Nonetheless, considering the success of their films and scores in awards season to date, A.R. Rahmen (for “Slumdog Millionaire”) and Alexandre Desplat (for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”) seem solid bets.
Thomas Newman, despite only having a BAFTA nomination to his credit so far in the awards season, often scores when the precursors don’t coming calling so I think he’s in for “WALL-E.” Alternatively, he could get in for “Revolutionary Road.”
The rest of the Golden Globe nominees strike me as facing challenges. Clint Eastwood has performed well this season with “Changeling” but I am doubtful he will ever be embraced by the music branch. James Newton Howard’s compositions for “Defiance” may be lost with his film while Hans Zimmer’s Globe citation for “Frost/Nixon” seems more like a tribute to the composer, a Globe favorite.
I would actually wager that Zimmer and Howard have a better opportunity with their fantastic “The Dark Knight” collaboration. Zimmer has been campaigning hard. Even so, I’m skeptical the duo will score. Co-composers receiving Oscar nominations is extremely rare. (Though, in all fairness, so is co-composing.)
Oh yeah, another guild (well, industry award I should say) this week: the Visual Effects Society (VES). The group’s typically unnavigable list of kudos contenders can be found below and after the jump.
It’s interesting to note “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” having a decent showing throughout, yet failing to make it to the final bake-off round. Ditto “Cloverfield.” Meanwhile, bake-off survivor “Australia” is nowhere to be found.
“The Dark Knight” looked to be shut out until the miniatures and special effects categories came to its aid, but even with the four nominations to its credit (two of them in the same category — that’s not a typo), I’m tempted to think “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” might be breathing down its neck. After all, in-camera wizardry isn’t often recognized by a visual effects branch that likes to award innovative CGI. Then again, after the VES nods were announced two years ago, I might have thought “I Am Legend” was set for a nomination.
The big winners throughout are, of course, Paramount’s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “Iron Man.” The former is still looking strong to walk away with the Oscar in about a month.
The awards will be handed out on February 21. “Button” producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall have already been announced as lifetime achievement award recipients.
The nominees (I’m just listing the film categories):
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture
“The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Cloverfield”
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army”
“Iron Man”
(more categories after the jump)
Period Films
“Changeling”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Doubt”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Milk”
Fantasy Films
“The Dark Knight”
“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”
“Iron Man”
“The Spiderwick Chronicles”
“WALL-E”
Contemporary Films
“Burn After Reading”
“Gran Torino”
“Quantum of Solace”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
“The Wrestler”
Alright, so more surprising guild love for “The Wrestler.” Very interesting. But I’m rather shocked at the “Hellboy II” Snub in fantasy. On the whole, though, does this clear anything up in this category? I’ve been confused all year long.
I’d say “Button,” “Skull” and “Slumdog” for the wins.
The five contenders for the 2009 Cinema Audio Society (CAS) Awards are:
“The Dark Knight”
“Iron Man”
“Quantum of Solace”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
“WALL-E”
So this is the second “Defiance” snub that has surprised me so far, following Eduardo Serra coming up short with the lensers earlier today.
“The Dark Knight,” “Iron Man” and especially “WALL-E” were certainly expected, but the show of support for “Slumdog Millionaire” indicates the deep industry love this film has going for it. I wouldn’t necessarily expect this to translate to a Best Sound Oscar nomination, given the fates of films like “Finding Neverland,” “Crash,” “Babel” and “Into the Wild,” Best Picture frontrunners that scored with CAS but missed with AMPAS (though “Wild” is something of an anomaly there).
Then again, “Slumdog” is a much more craftily conceived piece of filmmaking than those efforts. I thought the sound was amazing, personally. So perhaps this could be the first year since 2003 that the guild matches the Academy’s picks 5/5.
The inclusion of “Quantum of Solace” is particularly interesting, though. “Casino Royale” had a solid showing in the 2006 guild circuit, scoring with the art directors, costume designers, sound editors and even the visual effects artists. But the mixers in the CAS gave it the cold shoulder where a lot of us thought the film had its best shot. That the Society would tip its hat to the sequel is somewhat telling, I’d say.
With that in mind, I’d be tempted to predict this quintet for Oscar as well. The only Edward Zwick movie to miss a CAS nomination and turn up in the Academy’s tally was “Legends of the Fall” in 1994. So there is still hope for mixing legends (and branch favorites) Anna Behlmer and Andy Nelson. But the duo also have two other contenders in play: “Australia” and “Cloverfield,” which might be leaving their colleagues with too many choices.
There are a number of other possible surprise nominees in the mix, all of them featuring respected sound mixing talent. Add to the aforementioned “Australia,” “Defiance” and “Cloverfield” (my pick for the best work here in 2008) “Body of Lies” and “Valkyrie,” and you’re still looking at a number of possibilities. And let’s not forget another Best Picture frontrunner, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” strong in this arena in a number of sequences. But I would have expected a mention here if it was in the cards for Oscar.
Like I said, this is a smart list to bet on, with “Defiance” as the spoiler.
Last month, the Academy whittled the contenders for Best Visual Effects down to 15 hopefuls. Today, the branch has chipped away at it further.
And then there were seven:
“Australia”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army”
“Iron Man”
“Journey to the Center of the Earth”
“The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”
And from the press release:
On Thursday, January 15, all members of the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 15-minute excerpts from each of the seven shortlisted films. Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate three films for final Oscar consideration.
The most surprising omissions are probably “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” and “The Incredible Hulk.” Maybe “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” if you want to go there, but I don’t. I can’t believe it made the list of 15, frankly. And after watching “Hancock” again over the holiday, as well as the visual effects featurette, I was beginning to think it might have a decent shot. But my guess is that we’re still looking at “Button” and “Iron Man” as sure bets with “The Dark Knight” likely filling in the third and final slot.
Then again, this show of love for “Hellboy II” could translate to somewhat unexpected nominations both here and in the makeup field. And I feel like “Journey to the Center of the Earth” has more stroke with this group than many are assuming.
Now THAT’s what I call crashing the party. I don’t know how you nominate “Iron Man” over “The Dark Knight” in a category such as this, but nice to see someone standing up and being original.
The 2008 USC Scripter nominees are:
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Iron Man”
“The Reader”
“Revolutionary Road”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
I kind of expect Mr. Roth to win here, even if “Button” is beaten out by “Slumdog” at the Oscars. But we’ll see. The winner will be announced at the Jan. 30 gala, which I’ll be attending. If you recall, this will be the first year the USC Libraries will unveil the winner at the actual show.
As for Oscar, the WGA will be the first true road to the adapted screenplay category. The guild that stirred up a storm a year ago will announce its nominees on Thursday. Could “Iron Man” pop up here again? Time will tell.
It’s no secret that I don’t expect 2008 to be remembered as a banner year for cinema, though with that said, there are plenty of exceptional films to be remembered.
Perhaps 2007 spoiled us and got our hopes up and 2008 brought far too many let downs and disappointments from great filmmakers. Usually when I sit down to write up the year’s best, the first short list stands at around 30, perhaps 35 films that range from very good to great. This year I was at less than 20, and in some cases, I was probably stretching to allow space for this or that.
But I got it down to 10, so here they are…
10. “VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA”
This film was not vintage Woody Allen, as he has grown so much as a director for anything new from him to be considered a throw-back, but it is certainly refreshing Allen. Sexy and sleek, this film is part of the newest stage in the director’s career, moving away from the comfort and familiarity of New York to an exotic locale with Americans mixing it up and getting into all sorts of bizarre situations. Penélope Cruz all but burns a hole in the screen with her sensuality in this film, which is terrifying because she just might be psychotic. Welcome back Woody…we’ve missed you.
Just to say it once more, because I’ve certainly brought it up enough, 2008 was not a good year for film-goers.
That’s an incredibly subjective quip, of course, but I certainly found myself struggling with the level of quality on display with each and every screening, the oasis of the Oscar season ultimately proving to be a trickster mirage on the horizon as contenders ultimately fell flat or disappointed in various ways. And suddenly, we’re two weeks away from 2009.
Who let the goods out?
But a year lacking broad quality can be a fun “Where’s Waldo” for the impassioned film lover, and so it is that I found some truly wonderful, praise-worthy work from a number of driven and creative filmmakers this year. But a peculiarity began to arise as I sifted through the year’s offerings: What a load of downer cinema.
I first noticed it in the documentary offerings, heavier on morose subject matter than any other year I can remember. Depictions of the horrors of Katrina, the passionate life and tragic death of a Neil Diamond impersonator, the work of a journalist obsessed with his own inevitable suicide, the nation’s stance on the death penalty, the life and times of a child molester, a heart-breaking family drama in St. John’s, Newfoundland, a national economy on life support, despicable soldier etiquette at our global detention facilities -– it is hardly surprising that the most well-received documentary of the year is a celebration of an “artistic crime” in James Marsh’s “Man on Wire.” But how odd that the genre’s resident cynic, Werner Herzog, was responsible for one of the few other positive doc titles that made the rounds this year?
Moving into the realm of fiction, even the usually jubilant folks at Pixar couldn’t help but crank out their most sobering film to date, a cautionary tale wrapped in the guise of a love story that conveyed a creepy sense of inevitability despite a hopeful denouement.
I bring these observations up for a reason, and that is to add some perspective to the list you’ll find below. 2008 was a bellwether for me personally as I began to let the idea of “best” as a definitive slip away and become something more akin to a solid if flexible representation of the times, and how those times affect the viewer.
The American Film Institute has unveiled its schizophrenic list of the top 10 films of the year, and it’s a strangely delightful mixture of populist choices and more fringe contenders.
The appearance of “Iron Man” is as interesting as “Wendy and Lucy” popping up, but I don’t think this collective will do much to help any of the films within. Just another fun list of the year’s best. (Speaking of which, be sure to tune in tomorrow for my own list of same. Like how I turned that into a plug?)
Not sure why “Slumdog Millionaire” was snubbed. Is it considered an American production? Anyway, here’s the list:
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Frozen River”
“Gran Torino”
“Iron Man”
“Milk”
“WALL-E”
“Wendy and Lucy”
“The Wrestler”
A little late to the party on this. Been out, so, apologies. But it looks like AMPAS has narrowed the Best Visual Effects field to 15 contenders, as follows:
“Australia”
“The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian”
“Cloverfield”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“The Day the Earth Stood Still”
“Hancock”
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army”
“The Incredible Hulk”
“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”
“Iron Man”
“Journey to the Center of the Earth”
“The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”
“Quantum of Solace”
“The Spiderwick Chronicles”
I’ve always had the itching feeling that “The Spiderwick Chronicles” could surprise in this category, but that could be the same feeling that told me the same thing about “I Am Legend” and “The WaterHorse.” Anyway, after seeing “The Day the Earth Stood Still” Thursday night, I’m inclined to take it off my predicted three (where it’s been for a few months now). There wasn’t anything particularly popping about it, and really, all the effects are ultimately in the trailer. I thought there’d be more.
So with that, I still think “Iron Man” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (your winner, ladies and gentlemen) are secure. Then I’d say it’s a free-for-all. Love for “The Dark Knight,” despite a reliance of practical effects, could spread to this field. Though after checking out the DVD’s special features, I see there’s more CGI going on than I thought. Interesting to see “Cloverfield” on here, and really, I wouldn’t be shocked. “Hancock” is still a possibility, but come on. Most of those effects were kind of cheesy. Maybe.
Any of the summer films — “Prince Caspian,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Hellboy II” — could pop up here, but I might lean toward the Bat at the end of the day. We need to here from the Visual Effects Society to get a better idea.
The Academy’s petty disqualification of Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard’s score for “The Dark Knight” from Oscar contention has already caused much gnashing of teeth on these pages, so here’s something to compound the embarrassment.
It seems the Grammy voters are rather less fussy. Zimmer and Howard’s work was nominated yesterday in the category of (deep breath now) Best Score Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media. (Still with me? Good.)
And hey, look who joins them on the list: none other than Jonny Greenwood for “There Will Be Blood,” who of course won last year’s Oscar because the work was simply too groundbreaking to be ignored. Oh right, except he didn’t, because he was disqualified. Sensing a pattern here?
We shouldn’t be surprised by now that a voting body unrelated to the field of film should exhibit more common sense than AMPAS’ music blue-hairs, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating.
Joining Greenwood, Zimmer and Howard on the list are three more 2008 contenders, Thomas Newman for “WALL-E,” Ramin Djawadi (surprise!) for “Iron Man” and John Williams (yawn) for “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”